“Schools in England and Wales must develop inclusive whole school approaches to mental health and well-being.” (The Good Childhood Report, 2018)
Case Studies
Team+ have developed a Wellbeing Programme for primary schools to see a marked improvement in the mental and physical health & wellbeing of children aged 5-11 through an experiential learning programme embedded at the heart of school life. Based on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing, 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ and My Activity Passport, the programme focuses on developing skills and characteristics for life to enable children to respond positively to challenges, rather than react.
With one in eight 5 to 19 year olds now facing at least one mental health disorder (NHS, 2017), the purpose of our work is to address, at a young age, the growing mental health issues faced by children; building resilience, social mobility and growth mindset flexible thinking.
Carlton Primary Academy
The pilot scheme launched at Carlton Primary Academy, Barnsley in September 2019.
We worked with all classes throughout school from Foundation to Year 6 children at least once per week delivering a programme of wellbeing interventions and play based personal development. We also spent time with school staff including the Headteacher, SLT, learning leaders and lunchtime team to continuously gather feedback and ensure that the strategies developed were becoming rooted in school language, planning, structured and unstructured learning time.
We used a number of methods to analyse the effectiveness of the programme;
- Individual child questionnaires giving baseline data on personal perceptions of own wellbeing and measuring distance travelled over the first term
- Data from school; attendance, sickness and lateness, behaviour incidents,
achievement - Focus groups
- Knowledge and understanding of what wellbeing mean
- Understanding their own personal wellbeing and how each of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing impacts them individually
- Learning about how to respond positively to their emotions, rather than react
- Knowledge and ability to use personalised strategies to support their wellbeing
Evaluation
Over the academic year, we saw the children and school positively develop a whole school approach to mental and physical health & wellbeing.
One of the most impactful aspects of the programme was when the children started to use the techniques and strategies learnt at school in their own home environments, to positively manage their emotional health.
“Working with Team+, we were able to design a package that was bespoke for our children. The programme, led by Wellbeing Warrior Jordan, was amazing for our children. It really benefited them; not only from a learning perspective, but also holistically for their mental health and wellbeing. The children still talk about it today; our parents talk about it too and I can see the impact right across school. The conversation around mental health & wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do here at school.
A massive thank you for the work that the team did; for spearheading a unique offer for our school and for genuinely caring about the welfare and life chances of the children at our school.”